Greg Biffle demonstrates the correct way harnesses are supposed to work Wednesday in Daytona.

DAYTONA BEACH – Talk of safety replaced work Wednesday at the Daytona International Speedway as officials from the Occupational Safety Health Administration, Department of Labor, construction company Barton Malow and NASCAR driver Greg Biffle talked to 400 workers.

With Daytona Rising, a $400 million renovation of the speedway’s main grandstands, serving as a backdrop, workers were reminded of the dangers of construction work by the story of Jose Lopez, who fell 120 feet at the Cecil Commerce Center in Jacksonville last Friday.

“I live in 20 minutes from that site and I drive by it every day on the way to work here,” Barton Malow’s Josh Maher said. “He had been on the site for 20 days. His brother saw him fall. Things like that really hit home to all of us.

“Accidents like that are preventable.”

Lopez, 26, removed his safety harness so he could move from one roof to another when he fell, Maher said.

Maher, Barton Malow vice president Len Moser, OSHA deputy assistant of Labor Jordan Barab and Biffle then made a long presentation on the proper ways for workers to tether themselves to prevent falls.

Biffle was outfitted in one of the safety harnesses and hoisted off the ground to show how harnesses are supposed to work.

Since construction started a year ago, no worker has been seriously injured at Daytona Rising.

Construction stopped during the afternoon as part of OSHA’s National Fall Safety Stand-Down. Although most workers have years of experience, Barab wanted to make sure nobody gets too comfortable working the high steel.

“We’re bringing everyone together, including everyone here at the speedway today, for these events so that we save more lives and prevent more injuries than ever before.”